On August 5, 1945, the Front was divided and reorganized as the 1st Far Eastern Front and 2nd Far Eastern Front:
2nd Far Eastern Front, under General
M. A. Purkayev (aimed at eastern
Manchukuo), including: •
2nd Red Banner Army. •
15th Army. •
16th Army. •
10th Air Army.
1st Far Eastern Front, under Marshal
K. A. Meretskov (aimed at northern Manchukuo), including: •
1st Red Banner Army. •
5th Army. •
25th Army. •
35th Army •
9th Air Army • Chuguevsk Operational Group. •
Amur River Flotilla.
Transbaikal Front included the
12th Air Army. In the
Soviet invasion of Manchuria it led the attack into Japanese-occupied
Manchuria. Although the
Kwantung Army of the
Imperial Japanese Army had more than 1 million soldiers, the
Japanese defenders were overwhelmed by the offensive. Allied forces of
Mongolia and
Chiang Kai-shek's
Nationalist China aided the
Soviet operation. On August 19, the Far East Front continued its routing of the Kwantung Army by capturing
Harbin and
Mukden. By August 21, the
Red Army had captured almost all of
Manchuria, and the final surrender of the Kwantung Army took place. On August 11 to 12, 1945, the
87th Rifle Corps was brought out from the reserve of the 1st Far Eastern Front, and received new orders to prepare for landing operations on the island of Hokkaido (Japan); however, the planned operation never took place, although elements of the 87th Corps participated in other operations against Japanese forces in the theatre. On September 30, 1945, the
Primorskiy (Maritime Provinces) Military District was formed on the territory of
Primorsky Krai (territory of the former Ussuri Oblast), from HQ
1st Far East Front. == Commanders ==